I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas?

Being good stewards of our environment is the responsibility of everyone - paticulary if you are a Christian. Not only that, a 'green' Christmas can also be a less expensive Christmas! Here's some suggestions that I got in my email box - many which we already do. #4 is pretty challenging when you have 20 guests at the house...

1. If you put up Christmas lights, choose energy-efficient LED lights and turn them off during the day. While a 50-bulb incandescent strand of Christmas lights uses 250 watts, an equivalent 70-bulb LED strand uses only three watts. Turn the lights off at night.
2. When shopping for gifts and groceries, bring along a canvas bag to carry your purchases and try to choose items that have little or no packaging.
3. Wrap gifts in recyclable wrapping paper or use reusable gift bags or wrap in the comics section or regular newspaper.
4. If you’re hosting or organizing a holiday party, use cloth napkins and glass plates. Avoid using disposable napkins, plates and cutlery.
5. After the holidays, reuse gift boxes, packaging and wrapping paper when possible, and recycle what cannot be reused – contact your local government to find out what items are acceptable in your blue box program.

Frugal or Cheap?

Many times men are accused of being cheap at Christmas when it comes to buying gifts. Perhaps we deserve the reputation? However, I would propose that most men would simply say (and be right) that they are doing their part to help the planet by reducing consumerism. We're trying to conserve resources for the next generation. We're trying to get others to think of the disadvantaged. However, somehow I have a sneaky suspicion that these noble goals are missed by women. In fact, how many wives have thought of their husbands like the man in this story?....

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After being away on business for a week before Christmas, Tom thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift.

"How about some perfume?" he asked the cosmetics clerk.

She showed him a bottle costing $50.

"That's a bit much," said Tom, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30.

"That’s still quite a bit," Tom groused.

Growing disgusted, the clerk brought out a tiny $15 bottle.

Tom grew agitated, "What I mean," he said, "is I'd like to see something real cheap.”

So the clerk handed him a mirror.

Shopping Anyone?

With the price of oil at all time highs, it is getting depressing going to fill up! Not only that, the Comox Valley had the highest price in the province this past week. How can that be when the Lower Mainland has about 10 -12 cents of transit tax that we don't have! ARRGGH. One good thing coming out of this is that because Canada has a lot of oil, our dollar has been steadily rising. Analysts are predicting it will go higher which should make imports of all kinds a bit cheaper. I don't think it will balance it off totally, but it will help. Global Insight chief economist Dale Orr: (click on the link for the whole story)

Based on the historical relationship between the price of oil and the price of the
loonie, a more reasonable level for the currency would be as much as $1.10 US,
he said in an interview....

80 MPG 1987 Ford Mustang

In the face of rising oil and gas prices, it is amazing the power of innovation that God has enabled mankind to do. Perhaps Arab oil sheiks should tremble when the innovation and technology begins to roll out hybrid, hydrogen, electric, solar and other super efficient vehicles.

Maybe Ford should take a look at Doug Pelmear’s 1987 Ford Mustang before the 2010 Mustang rolls off the assembly line. According to him he has been able
to re-engineer his Mustangs engine to produce 400 Horsepower and 500 Torque while improving his gas mileage to an astounding 80 Miles per gallon. He created the car to compete in the $10 million Progressive Automotive X Prize which is a
“race” to find an affordable, marketable automobile that gets at least 100 miles per gallon, or its equivalent

Pretty amazing?! Hopefully it is true - you can check the rest of the story here.

Will a 'Green Shift' make any difference?

Assuming you buy the rhetoric around global warming and climate change, you may be thinking that the Liberal Party's 'Green Shift' is great stuff. But when you really look at it (check out the link to see the big picture) will it really make a difference? Oh well, we're still glad we bought this in April when gas was cheap at 1.20 a litre.